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Donald Trump said 16 false things on Wednesday, Sept. 28

WASHINGTON—Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had a very busy day on Wednesday, Sept. 28. He spoke to a Polish-American group in Chicago, then did a rally in Iowa, then did a rally in Wisconsin and an interview with Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly. He said 16 false things:

1. Falsely claimed debate moderator Lester Holt was “100 per cent wrong” when he said a judge ruled the police practice of “stop-and-frisk” unconstitutional in New York City. (Holt was right — that happened, in 2013.)

2. Falsely claimed that he predicted the result of the “Brexit” referendum “two days before” the vote. (In that Fox Business interview, he supported Brexit but didn’t predict it — and said, “I don’t think anybody should listen to me because I haven’t really focused on it very much.”)

3. Falsely said, “The interest rates are so low because the Fed is controlled by the politicians. Never happened before.” (There is no evidence that the Federal Reserve is no longer acting independently. Experts say Trump’s accusation is ridiculous. Trump himself endorsed the low rates in May.)

4. Falsely said, “Now don’t forget, Hillary has spent over $200 million on ads against me . . . $200 million and more has been spent on me.” (Clinton has spent $53 million on ads against him, McClatchy reports, citing the Wesleyan Media Project.)

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5. Falsely said, “Homicides are up more than 50 per cent in Washington, D.C. and more than 60 per cent in Baltimore.” (This was true last year, but not anymore: both are currently experiencing declines. D.C. has had 104 homicides this year, down from 119 at this time last year. The Washington Post last week wrote, “According to police data, Baltimore had 214 homicides through earlier this month, down from 228 at the same point last year.”)

6. Falsely said the “Google search engine was suppressing the bad news about Hillary Clinton.” (There is no evidence for this claim, which was peddled by a Russian news agency.)

7. Falsely said of Clinton’s email scandal: “There are five people taking the 5th Amendment, like you see on the mob, right.” (Three people have invoked their 5th Amendment rights.)

8. Falsely said, “Every single poll that was taken, I won the debate, and some of them by a lot.” (Trump won only in unscientific online polls anyone can click. He lost in every scientific poll — CNN, Public Policy Polling, Eschelon, YouGov, Morning Consult.)

9. Falsely claimed Clinton is outspending him on ads by a “50 to 1” ratio. (The actual ratio is 11 to 1 or less, depending on who is counting and how.)

10. Falsely said of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine: “He wasn’t popular in Virginia . . . he won very close race (sic).” (Kaine won his Senate seat by a comfortable six percentage points, 53 per cent to 47 per cent.)

11. Falsely said, “We’re doing great in Virginia because nobody likes Kaine.” (Trump is not doing great in Virginia: he has trailed in 15 consecutive polls, and he is down by an average of seven points. Also, Kaine’s popularity there — 50 per cent approve/37 per cent disapprove in a recent poll — is far higher than Trump’s, 34 per cent favourable/60 per cent unfavourable in the same poll.)

13. Falsely said, “She is going to raise your taxes.” (This would be true if Trump was speaking to the rich, but it isn’t when addressed to a rally crowd. Says the Tax Policy Center: “Nearly all of (Clinton’s) tax increases would fall on the top 1 per cent; the bottom 95 per cent of taxpayers would see little or no change in their taxes.”)

14. Falsely said, “58 per cent of African-American youth are not working.” (The figure was 58 per cent early in the year, but it is now down to 55 per cent. And it is misleading regardless, as it counts people who aren’t looking for jobs, like students and the children of black millionaires. The actual unemployment rate for black youth is 26 per cent.)

15. Falsely said Clinton “put the office of secretary of state up for sale.” (There is no evidence Clinton sold or tried to sell favours.)

16. Falsely claimed he had been acknowledged to be correct in declaring NATO “obsolete because it doesn’t cover terror;” falsely suggested NATO created an anti-terror position because of his comments. (Experts continue to say NATO has long dealt with terror, and that the new position had nothing to do with Trump.)

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